berlin!
[just so you're not confused by my first sentence, i wrote this post over about four days, beginning in berlin while waiting for my overnight train back to paris.]
so it's 21:13 on september 31, and i was just approached by a bilingual beggar. crazy. i've entitled this text document "paris2," though none but the ending will take place in paris. we're going to do a recap of the past week in berlin.
so, i already shared my adventures in getting to yitz's. later on friday (after a truly fabulous nap), i did some exploring with julius. yitz had told me that julius was the most german person ever, and i can't think of a more apt description. he's tall, blonde, and soooo polite. the only uncharacteristic things about him, if we're describing his character as 'german,' are that he hates smoke (while most germans are quite tolerant of it, and many do smoke) and that he thinks noon is too early to drink beer (and instead drank orange juice at lunch on sunday). he's a computer programmer, though he was so knowledgeable about history and politics i would have pegged him a polisci guy.
the two of us went to the center of berlin, where we saw the bradenburg gate, which is hella old, and the reichstag, the german parliment building. the reichstag has this phenomenal dome that you can walk up in, but we were deterred by the long line and decided to wander on. but no worries; i'll save it for my next time in berlin. he also pointed out the siegessäule, or victory tower, then we walked over to the gendarmenmarkt, which was gorgeous and symmetrical even though one of the cathedrals was under construction.
more touristy things followed, the most notable of which was a speedy elevator ride up some 24-story building (yes, i know 24 stories isn't that impressive, but berlin is pretty short for a world-class city). nobody really knows the name of the building, but it's near the sony center and provides a bangin' view of berlin for 2euro50. a few things struck me about the view: 1) the gorgeous philharmonic hall, which looks to have amazing acoustics as well. oh man, i could look at that building for hours. 2) the contrast between east and west berlin. it's intense; east berlin is full of monotonous communist architecture, while the west is much more visually appealing. 3) the greenery! the center of berlin has a huge tree-filled park called--i believe-- the tiergarten (this, of course, is a striking contrast to the roped-off trees in millenium park, chicago's pathetic interpretation of nature). but there was plenty of nature visible elsewhere; in fact, while riding the metro, i'd often look out and see that i was surrounded by forest.
and aaah, the metro. yitz promised i would love it, and he was right on. it's clean (save some graffiti, which is pretty ubiquitous in the entire city), it's fast, and (pardon my pulling a mastercard) it's everywhere you want to be. and the bicycles! most were pimped out with racks and baskets and headlights (it's the law, in fact, to have lights on your bike if you ride after dark), but the best thing about the bicycles is that they were everywhere, as were bike lanes. i was, of course, very excited by all of this--it's just so refreshing when cities have alternatives to automobiles, and it's borderline exhilarating when those alternatives are well executed and widely used.
but back to friday. i wanted to see how much it cost to go to the movies, so we headed over to the sony center's cinema. movie prices are determined by a lot of variables, such as what night it is (more expensive on weekends, of course) and how long the movie is (longer movies cost more, in fact). after seeing the movie prices, we decided we might as well see something, so we bought charlie and the chocolate factory tickets and had a spot of tea (or hot chocolate) before the show. i only mention the drinks because our waiter had this badass electronic notepad. i'm pretty sure it had a wireless connection to the kitchen, and it definitely had the ability to print our receipt. it was crazycool.
the movie was okay, but it deserves so little mention that i'll just say i prefer the gene wilder version. afterward we had some chinese, and then i found five euros. (no, no, just kidding with the euros. i wish.) i was rather wiped out after seeing half of downtown berlin, so i slept like a rock until about 3pm on saturday. upon awakening, i realized that i had a cold, so i proceeded to spend an eventful saturday drinking tea and blowing my nose.
on sunday, yitz's dad prepared a traditional german meal of pork and sauerkraut, with not-so-traditional extras like green beans (i'd already let him know i'm not a fan of 'kraut) and a cake, baked by yitz's mom. after lunch, julius and i headed out for a holocaust memorial and the jewish museum. both were cool beyond words. we also saw checkpoint charlie (and the lesser-known snackpoint charlie, a nearby food stop) and the berlin dome before a dinner of beer and spatzel with onion, tomato, and bacon.
i was without a return ticket to paris, so i set out to resolve this on monday. the deutsche bahn is pretty lame in that they don't let you purchase tickets online, so i headed to the train station. once i saw the line was going to take a few minutes, i whipped out the ipod, which drew a comment from the woman behind me. after my response of "ich spreche kein deutch," she asked me how i liked my ipod in english (i suppose my accent was indicative of an english speaker). i didn't end up listening to much music during the 10-minute wait, since we kept talking. she even offered to translate for me if the teller didn't speak english (but the teller did). and then, i really did find 5 euros--well, it was actually 60 or so, and i found them in my hand after a bank teller gave them to me. ah, the joys of currency exchange.
next up was the story of berlin, a super sweet museum about berlin's history. here i finally saw some of the berlin wall, as well as a tin of cheddar cheese that american troops dropped to west berlin (w00t, cheese! go team america!!). the museum included a tour of a still-functional cold war–era bunker, which featured a bathroom-to-person ratio of 1:900 or something equally insane. that wouldn't be much of a concern, though, because if the bunker were actually used, the amount of oxygen in the air would be so low that people would just basically sleep all the time. the cots were in stacks of 4 and 5, maybe even 6--in short, conditions that made my overnight train couchette seem like a king bed in a hilton. so yeah, bunkers suck and the museum was very cool and very educational.
but here, folks, i must take a break to stress how little i know about history. wwii, for example. the version of world war two that i got in american history was "and then japan bombed us, so we came in and saved the day." my high school required all students to take two years of american history, but made european history pretty damn inaccessible--there was only one class offered, and that was an ap class i wasn't eligible for since i didn't get an A in history my freshman year. i mean, most of us had a class called "world cultures," but that entire class could have been summarized with "ok, kids, some cultures are different than ours, but that's no reason to join the kkk." i suppose i should have taken the initiative and read wikipedia for some history on my own time, but it's disappointing that i was allowed to graduate high school with such a gap in my education. ultimately, i feel a little let down by the most powerful nation in the world--what, is this all the knowledge you think your children can handle? even adults are pretty damn oblivious to what's going on in the rest of the world, and that shouldn't be surprising when the only foreign countries cnn mentions (besides america, of course) are israel and whatever countries we happen to be invading--err, "liberating"--at the time.
and then yitz arrived! we didn't do much on monday night besides some catching up, but we got an early start (at least by my standards) on tuesday. we went to his high school, ate a doner, and wandered around the grounds of the charlottenburg palace (which is, like, 5 seconds from his house). friends of his family were moving back to the states, so we all had cocktails with them. wednesday brought a visit to the museum berggruen, which had a pretty nice picasso collection (oh, and the museum is also 5 seconds from his house. that's right. picasso. five seconds away. no joke.), and drinks with his friend kristen.
on thursday we hung out at kristen's house and had drinks with julius. we saw this cool artist's colony that's covered with graffiti and artwork. the communists tried to destroy it back in the day, but the building was so well made (stone and stuff) that it stood. i'm definitely taking mia to it when we go to da 'lin. on friday morning, yitz left for chicago. i didn't do much besides packing, going to an american express office, and catching my train. i was quite annoyed to discover that my couchette had a baby in it, but after about 20 minutes of intermittent crying the kid was quiet.
in paris the next morning, i made my way to the charles de gaulle airport and met mia (after a bit of worry that i'd never find her). you can read her account of our first day below. the only downsides to my room, which is more spacious than most and overlooks the campus of the cite, are the cold floor and the sink, which has separate taps for hot and cold water (it's so frustrating when i can't have warm water!). i've put some decor around, plus got my huge bag (which had been parked at the paris center while i was in berlin) unpacked, so--while it's definitely not my apartment--it'll do for a few months.
and with that, i've gotta peace out. much reading to do for tomorrow, and we have to haul ass into the center of paris at 9 tomorrow morning for a tour of an art gallery--i know, i know, i have SO much to complain about! civ class isn't until 4:30, by the way, which is great (though getting out at 7 is sorta lame), and french class is before that, starting at 3:15 or 2:15 depending on the day. i'm not bothering to proofread right now, so let me know if my grammar is wack or my links are bad.
so it's 21:13 on september 31, and i was just approached by a bilingual beggar. crazy. i've entitled this text document "paris2," though none but the ending will take place in paris. we're going to do a recap of the past week in berlin.
so, i already shared my adventures in getting to yitz's. later on friday (after a truly fabulous nap), i did some exploring with julius. yitz had told me that julius was the most german person ever, and i can't think of a more apt description. he's tall, blonde, and soooo polite. the only uncharacteristic things about him, if we're describing his character as 'german,' are that he hates smoke (while most germans are quite tolerant of it, and many do smoke) and that he thinks noon is too early to drink beer (and instead drank orange juice at lunch on sunday). he's a computer programmer, though he was so knowledgeable about history and politics i would have pegged him a polisci guy.
the two of us went to the center of berlin, where we saw the bradenburg gate, which is hella old, and the reichstag, the german parliment building. the reichstag has this phenomenal dome that you can walk up in, but we were deterred by the long line and decided to wander on. but no worries; i'll save it for my next time in berlin. he also pointed out the siegessäule, or victory tower, then we walked over to the gendarmenmarkt, which was gorgeous and symmetrical even though one of the cathedrals was under construction.
more touristy things followed, the most notable of which was a speedy elevator ride up some 24-story building (yes, i know 24 stories isn't that impressive, but berlin is pretty short for a world-class city). nobody really knows the name of the building, but it's near the sony center and provides a bangin' view of berlin for 2euro50. a few things struck me about the view: 1) the gorgeous philharmonic hall, which looks to have amazing acoustics as well. oh man, i could look at that building for hours. 2) the contrast between east and west berlin. it's intense; east berlin is full of monotonous communist architecture, while the west is much more visually appealing. 3) the greenery! the center of berlin has a huge tree-filled park called--i believe-- the tiergarten (this, of course, is a striking contrast to the roped-off trees in millenium park, chicago's pathetic interpretation of nature). but there was plenty of nature visible elsewhere; in fact, while riding the metro, i'd often look out and see that i was surrounded by forest.
and aaah, the metro. yitz promised i would love it, and he was right on. it's clean (save some graffiti, which is pretty ubiquitous in the entire city), it's fast, and (pardon my pulling a mastercard) it's everywhere you want to be. and the bicycles! most were pimped out with racks and baskets and headlights (it's the law, in fact, to have lights on your bike if you ride after dark), but the best thing about the bicycles is that they were everywhere, as were bike lanes. i was, of course, very excited by all of this--it's just so refreshing when cities have alternatives to automobiles, and it's borderline exhilarating when those alternatives are well executed and widely used.
but back to friday. i wanted to see how much it cost to go to the movies, so we headed over to the sony center's cinema. movie prices are determined by a lot of variables, such as what night it is (more expensive on weekends, of course) and how long the movie is (longer movies cost more, in fact). after seeing the movie prices, we decided we might as well see something, so we bought charlie and the chocolate factory tickets and had a spot of tea (or hot chocolate) before the show. i only mention the drinks because our waiter had this badass electronic notepad. i'm pretty sure it had a wireless connection to the kitchen, and it definitely had the ability to print our receipt. it was crazycool.
the movie was okay, but it deserves so little mention that i'll just say i prefer the gene wilder version. afterward we had some chinese, and then i found five euros. (no, no, just kidding with the euros. i wish.) i was rather wiped out after seeing half of downtown berlin, so i slept like a rock until about 3pm on saturday. upon awakening, i realized that i had a cold, so i proceeded to spend an eventful saturday drinking tea and blowing my nose.
on sunday, yitz's dad prepared a traditional german meal of pork and sauerkraut, with not-so-traditional extras like green beans (i'd already let him know i'm not a fan of 'kraut) and a cake, baked by yitz's mom. after lunch, julius and i headed out for a holocaust memorial and the jewish museum. both were cool beyond words. we also saw checkpoint charlie (and the lesser-known snackpoint charlie, a nearby food stop) and the berlin dome before a dinner of beer and spatzel with onion, tomato, and bacon.
i was without a return ticket to paris, so i set out to resolve this on monday. the deutsche bahn is pretty lame in that they don't let you purchase tickets online, so i headed to the train station. once i saw the line was going to take a few minutes, i whipped out the ipod, which drew a comment from the woman behind me. after my response of "ich spreche kein deutch," she asked me how i liked my ipod in english (i suppose my accent was indicative of an english speaker). i didn't end up listening to much music during the 10-minute wait, since we kept talking. she even offered to translate for me if the teller didn't speak english (but the teller did). and then, i really did find 5 euros--well, it was actually 60 or so, and i found them in my hand after a bank teller gave them to me. ah, the joys of currency exchange.
next up was the story of berlin, a super sweet museum about berlin's history. here i finally saw some of the berlin wall, as well as a tin of cheddar cheese that american troops dropped to west berlin (w00t, cheese! go team america!!). the museum included a tour of a still-functional cold war–era bunker, which featured a bathroom-to-person ratio of 1:900 or something equally insane. that wouldn't be much of a concern, though, because if the bunker were actually used, the amount of oxygen in the air would be so low that people would just basically sleep all the time. the cots were in stacks of 4 and 5, maybe even 6--in short, conditions that made my overnight train couchette seem like a king bed in a hilton. so yeah, bunkers suck and the museum was very cool and very educational.
but here, folks, i must take a break to stress how little i know about history. wwii, for example. the version of world war two that i got in american history was "and then japan bombed us, so we came in and saved the day." my high school required all students to take two years of american history, but made european history pretty damn inaccessible--there was only one class offered, and that was an ap class i wasn't eligible for since i didn't get an A in history my freshman year. i mean, most of us had a class called "world cultures," but that entire class could have been summarized with "ok, kids, some cultures are different than ours, but that's no reason to join the kkk." i suppose i should have taken the initiative and read wikipedia for some history on my own time, but it's disappointing that i was allowed to graduate high school with such a gap in my education. ultimately, i feel a little let down by the most powerful nation in the world--what, is this all the knowledge you think your children can handle? even adults are pretty damn oblivious to what's going on in the rest of the world, and that shouldn't be surprising when the only foreign countries cnn mentions (besides america, of course) are israel and whatever countries we happen to be invading--err, "liberating"--at the time.
and then yitz arrived! we didn't do much on monday night besides some catching up, but we got an early start (at least by my standards) on tuesday. we went to his high school, ate a doner, and wandered around the grounds of the charlottenburg palace (which is, like, 5 seconds from his house). friends of his family were moving back to the states, so we all had cocktails with them. wednesday brought a visit to the museum berggruen, which had a pretty nice picasso collection (oh, and the museum is also 5 seconds from his house. that's right. picasso. five seconds away. no joke.), and drinks with his friend kristen.
on thursday we hung out at kristen's house and had drinks with julius. we saw this cool artist's colony that's covered with graffiti and artwork. the communists tried to destroy it back in the day, but the building was so well made (stone and stuff) that it stood. i'm definitely taking mia to it when we go to da 'lin. on friday morning, yitz left for chicago. i didn't do much besides packing, going to an american express office, and catching my train. i was quite annoyed to discover that my couchette had a baby in it, but after about 20 minutes of intermittent crying the kid was quiet.
in paris the next morning, i made my way to the charles de gaulle airport and met mia (after a bit of worry that i'd never find her). you can read her account of our first day below. the only downsides to my room, which is more spacious than most and overlooks the campus of the cite, are the cold floor and the sink, which has separate taps for hot and cold water (it's so frustrating when i can't have warm water!). i've put some decor around, plus got my huge bag (which had been parked at the paris center while i was in berlin) unpacked, so--while it's definitely not my apartment--it'll do for a few months.
and with that, i've gotta peace out. much reading to do for tomorrow, and we have to haul ass into the center of paris at 9 tomorrow morning for a tour of an art gallery--i know, i know, i have SO much to complain about! civ class isn't until 4:30, by the way, which is great (though getting out at 7 is sorta lame), and french class is before that, starting at 3:15 or 2:15 depending on the day. i'm not bothering to proofread right now, so let me know if my grammar is wack or my links are bad.
posted by lauren at 5:12 PM
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